Steps

Christine pressed on, her eyes scanning the ground as she tried to gather what she knew.

"I don't know who you are. You've told me that you're my husband's ex-wife but I don't know how that can be. We've been married for years."

It took all of Bethan's effort not to gasp but she could see that Christine was talking and she wanted to hear exactly what she knew. She stifled the smart of angry hurt and pushed it away. She could dwell on that later although, she thought, I probably won't, side-eyeing the inert form of Dave. Two lives, two wives. Could it be true?

She knew that Dave had married - he'd told her by text a year after they'd divorced - but he'd failed to mention the date it had happened. Prudent.

Christine kept going, working through what she knew.

"I find it hard to believe that he," and here she threw a thumb in Dave's direction without looking at him, "could do that."

Bethan had felt the same but now? Not so much. She was still holding on to the hope that he hadn't killed their daughter but even that felt like it could be possible, despite his protestations to the contrary.

Christine paused. "Although that would give him a motive for killing you if you were intent on bringing up the past." She looked thoughtful. "And exposing him."

Bethan went to say something but Christine was on a roll.

"But that would have meant that he's spent years, years, living a double life."

Christine wasn't looking at Bethan but Bethan was nodding earnestly. This was how it was. It had to be.

"And I didn't have a clue."

Neither did I, Bethan thought.

"Until Katie discovered the camera. And then shortly after, I noticed that he was acting strangely. Not super shifty but edgy. He said it was his health and stress at work but I wasn't buying it."

She looked up.

"And now, you're saying that your daughter had a camera which was never found? And you've had a photo?"

Bethan nodded.

"You think it was from her camera?"

"Yes."

Bethan waited. Would Christine make the link to Katie?

***

365 words

Dave's got to wake up soon, hasn't he?

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